First Class on a Coach Budget

Come on let's face it, all of us have walked through the first class seating on the plane on our way to the coach seats and have looked longingly at those people seated in first class holding their drinks and stretching out in their seats!  We then sigh and walk back to find our seats among the rest of the coach passengers.  We hope that there is still overhead space for our carry-on and silently pray that we are not in the seat next to the screaming baby or in front of the kid who is kicking the back of the seat or in back of the person who decides to recline his seat into our lap.  Yep....those first class passengers certainly have the life!  Well...there is a way to work your way into those coveted first class seats without paying the outrageous full price that the airlines charge for them.

There are a couple of ways that I've found it possible to move into the first class world for way less than full price:

1.  Save your miles!  You will hear me say this over and over and over.  Pick an airline....stick with the airline you chose when booking your trips and build up your miles.  Now sometimes another airline may run a sale and you may be tempted to book on it, but consider the miles that you are going to lose out on if you do.  Sometimes it's worth the loss, many times it's not for the difference in fare.  Once you have built up your miles, the airline will give you options on how to use them.  You can use them for free flights OR many times you can use them to upgrade your seat to first class.  Depending on how much you fly and what your "status" is with your frequent flyer program, there may or may not be a small charge associated with the upgrade in addition to the miles.  Be choosy though, some flights are short and it may be worth the trip in coach to save the miles.  Use them on long trips where you can really benefit from being comfortable in first class.  The best example of using miles to upgrade was a trip my family took to Hawaii a few years back.  We had saved up miles for several years and were able to not only book the flight for free but we were able to upgrade to First Class for extra miles and a $10.00 fee per passenger.  For $30.00 plus tax and security fees all three of us flew on an 8 hour flight each way in first class!  It can be done!!

2.  Purchase First Class seating at a reduced price:  This isn't always a possibility but there are times when the first class seats are not sold out for a flight.  It is in the airline's best interest to get something out of them rather than leave them empty....so...the closer you get to your departure date, the cheaper the seats will become.  Now...you run the risk of someone else purchasing the seat ahead of you so the key is to keep checking daily on the price to upgrade your coach seat.  Sometimes the prices are higher than others so again, you have to weigh the benefits with the costs.  Best example of this was the morning of my departure I was able to upgrade my ticket to first class for $79.00.  To me it was worth the upgrade for this cost.  I have also had upgrade offers of over $500.00.....those I pass on so just be willing to be flexible and see what you can get.

3.  Earn Status:  If you travel a lot, stick with one airline as stated above and earn "status" with them.  Not all airlines do this (Southwest for example which does not offer first class) but the ones who do certainly make it worth your while to keep flying with them.  My husband travels for business quite often during the year.  Because of this, he has earned Gold Status and with that comes free upgrades to first class if the seats are available.  Now due to mergers of airlines, the upgrades are getting more difficult to receive but he still ends up in first class quite a bit.  Depending on the perks that come with a "status" the spouse can even get upgraded also so then both seats are had for free!  Again, it doesn't happen all the time so you can't count on it but when it happens it's great!

If you play your cards right....next time you could be the first class passenger that everyone is looking longing at as they head to coach!

Coming soon.....Now that you have made it into First Class....how are you supposed to act??  There's some pretty strange rituals in the front of the plane so what's a newbie to do?